Expert: James Gort - 8/28/2006

Question
Wow! You knew Prof. J. Allen Hynek?! I am a big fan of Jacque Vallee. It's really neat you were taught by him. I've recently been very interested in the research by David Jacobs, another professor researching UFO's, etc. Have you any interest in this paticular area or do you consider it all speculitive nonsense?

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Followup To

Question -
Does this theory hold any scientific merit, if not why?

http://www.metaresearch.org/solar%20system/eph/eph2000.asp

Answer -
Hi Sam,

You've asked the right person.  Many scientists would discount this theory as "outside the mainstream of scientific thought".  But to answer your question, yes, I think it does have scientific merit and would benefit from further investigation (modelling planetary formation, solar system dynamics, etc.)

I have a lot of respect for Tom Van Flandern, both as a scientist and as an original (and sometimes courageous) thinker.  Often ideas outside of the "mainstream" are ridiculed, usually to the detriment of the advancement of science.  But there is nothing in the "exploding planet" hypothesis that is clearly wrong from a scientific standpoint.  So for that reason alone, the theory warrants further investigation.

If you're interested in this (and other) strange but scientifically plausible theories, I highly recommend Van Flandern's book "Dark Matter, Missing Planets, and New Comets".  If you're interested in alternative theories of the universe (by top scientists, but some would still consider fringe theories), I would recommend "Seeing Red" by Alton Arp and "A Different Approach to Cosmology" by Hoyle, Burbidge, and Narlikar.

One of my former teachers was Prof. J. Allen Hynek, former chairman of the Department of Astronomy at Northwestern University.  But he's better known as the person who coined the terms "Close Encounters of the First, Second, and Third Kind".  He was scientific advisor to the movie Close Encounters, and headed the U.S. Air Force Project Blue Book (on UFOs) for 20 years.  When he was asked why he would risk his reputation studying UFOs, he replied that he already had made his reputation, and something was going on that needed scientific study.  That was courage.  More scientists could benefit from having such courage, rather than following the prevalent train of thought.  Einstein showed similar courage - it took a long time for his ideas to be tested and eventually to become accepted.

Keep asking questions, but be sceptical of all answers you receive!

Prof. James Gort

Answer
Hi Sam,

To be honest, I haven't kept up on a lot of recent research in this area.  But I'm very glad to see that some scientists are still seriously studying the phenomena.  I certainly don't consider it to be speculative nonsense until proven conclusively that it is.  Above all, one must have an open mind.  I was brought up thinking that was a hallmark of science.  But not all scientists agree.  Donald Menzel of Harvard is a case of a close-minded scientist.  And I can't forget Dr. Edward Condon, who "closed" Project Blue Book.  Dr. Hynek was furious with him!

A couple of things sick in my mind about what Dr. Hynek told us.  First, he was the first to agree that 95% of all UFO sightings were easily explainable - e.g., Venus, unusual cloud formations, etc.  But the remaining 5% intrigued him.  In these, current known physical laws could not explain them.  But he was always cautious not to jump to conclusions (this was the scientist in him!).  He wasn't convinced the phenomena was due to "alien civilizations", but they were due to something beyond our current understanding of physics.  He speculated that other dimensions could be involved, but that's the reason he wanted to investigate them more.  To try and fully explain what was happening (and modify physics if need be).

One thing that stands out is the correlation he found regarding "sightings".  There was great similarity in descriptions throughout the world, even among natives who had no access to the "outside" world.  To him, that correlation was strong evidence that something "real" was occurring.

On a personal note, Dr. Hynek was simply the most dedicated teacher of astronomy I've ever found.  I met him while I was still in high school.  He started the "Astro-Science Workshop" in Chicago for high school students - I was a member of his first class.  He brought in world-class astronomers to give lectures to high school students on Saturday mornings!  And then we did lab exercises to reinforce the ideas.  Of course, there were field trips to observe at Dearborn and Yerkes Observatories.  In my book, a great man, in every sense of the word.